Aspects of the present invention relate to furnace operations and, more particularly, to furnace operations that reduce pollutants in emissions.
As global climate concerns grow, methods and apparatuses for reducing emissions from fossil fuel boilers have been employed. These methods and apparatuses have incorporated fuel staging, biomass co-firing, biomass gasification, biomass reburn and/or combinations thereof into furnace operations to reduce pollutant emissions including NOx, SOx, CO2, Hg, etc.
However, each of the above noted methods includes certain shortcomings that have limited their applicability. These shortcomings include the need to rely on the availability of seasonal fuels, the need to preprocess the fuels, inefficiencies, and high costs. In addition, with respect to the use of biomass alone in co-firing or reburn operations, the shortcomings discussed above are particularly relevant and often result in emissions reductions not achieving their full entitlement.